News
7
Jan
2020
FASTag: Truck drivers use novel tricks to skip toll tax
“NHAI has taken action against a few truck drivers by blacklisting both the stickers used by them,” said M K Jain, chief general manager, NHAI regional office (Rajasthan).
Jaipur: Even as the FASTag coverage in Rajasthan reached 53.68% and toll collection crossed 66%, many truck drivers use innovative tricks to evade toll tax on national highways. The truck drivers have adopted two-tag tactic, i.e. carrying two stickers (valid and blacklisted), to evade tax at the toll plazas.
“NHAI has taken action against a few truck drivers by blacklisting both the stickers used by them,” said M K Jain, chief general manager, NHAI regional office (Rajasthan).
Earlier, the truck drivers also misused the "enable and disable" feature of PayTM wallets to evade toll tax. After NHAI took up the issue with PayTM, they deactivated the feature on their wallet.
“We have asked IHMCL (Indian Highways Management Company Limited) to identify these vehicles (carrying two tags). We have caught some truck drivers, who were using two tags in order to evade toll tax. These drivers usually paste the blacklisted tag on the windscreen. First, they would argue with the toll plaza officials for 5-10 minutes with the hope that they would be allowed to go after a long argument. Then, they put pressure on the officials to check with the hand-held machines. If they are not allowed to leave, they either take out the valid tag and get it scanned or make the payment through cash.”
“By using this ploy, if they are allowed to go by the toll plaza officials coming under pressure due to the increasing traffic, they can save Rs 1,000-1,500 each day. So, they use these tricks to evade toll tax. So, this is causing some problems, leading to traffic congestion at the toll plazas,” said Jain.
“When they lodge a complaint on the helpline number 1033, they give the number of the valid sticker, and not the blacklisted one, which is pasted on the windscreen. After calling, they would complain why were they not allowed to go. But when the numbers were tallied on the system, they didn't match,” he added, saying both the stickers of these truck drivers, who were caught, have been blacklisted.
“NHAI has taken action against a few truck drivers by blacklisting both the stickers used by them,” said M K Jain, chief general manager, NHAI regional office (Rajasthan).
Earlier, the truck drivers also misused the "enable and disable" feature of PayTM wallets to evade toll tax. After NHAI took up the issue with PayTM, they deactivated the feature on their wallet.
“We have asked IHMCL (Indian Highways Management Company Limited) to identify these vehicles (carrying two tags). We have caught some truck drivers, who were using two tags in order to evade toll tax. These drivers usually paste the blacklisted tag on the windscreen. First, they would argue with the toll plaza officials for 5-10 minutes with the hope that they would be allowed to go after a long argument. Then, they put pressure on the officials to check with the hand-held machines. If they are not allowed to leave, they either take out the valid tag and get it scanned or make the payment through cash.”
“By using this ploy, if they are allowed to go by the toll plaza officials coming under pressure due to the increasing traffic, they can save Rs 1,000-1,500 each day. So, they use these tricks to evade toll tax. So, this is causing some problems, leading to traffic congestion at the toll plazas,” said Jain.
“When they lodge a complaint on the helpline number 1033, they give the number of the valid sticker, and not the blacklisted one, which is pasted on the windscreen. After calling, they would complain why were they not allowed to go. But when the numbers were tallied on the system, they didn't match,” he added, saying both the stickers of these truck drivers, who were caught, have been blacklisted.